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E-mail: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
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Tuesday, April 23,2002
Editor in Chief:
Jessica Blanchard
Managing Editor:
Jeremy Lang
Editorial Editor:
Julie Lauderbaugh
Assistant Editorial Editor:
Jacquelyn Lewis
Letters to the editor
Life should not be a drag
I thought the article “Life’s not a
drag: Queens, kings strut their stuff in
EMU fishbowl,” printed in the April
18 Emerald, was completely
inappropriate.
I usually just ignore and bite my
lip at most of the things that I may
find offensive and all the crap that I
consider inappropriate behavior. But
I find this article lacking in any
morals or ethics, and it disregards all
those who may still have some.
I do not care what kind of
lifestyle someone may lead. But I
am sick of this kind of crap being
thrown at me in every direction and
the funds being wasted on it.
John Kostick
EMU accountant/payroll administrator
I am more than Scottish
In response to John Muir
O’Brien’s letter (“Many mascots are
demeaning,” ODE 4/17), I am a lot
of things besides my Scottish her
itage. And unlike Mr. O’Brien’s
view that the University and Notre
Dame should change their mascots,
I really can’t be bothered with being
the center of the universe anymore.
His pleak are frigid in the icy moun
tain of political correctness or cul
tural diversity or whatever the buzz
phrase is this year.
I am not just a Scotsman. I am also
an alcoholic and addict (recovering
19 years). I’m a veteran, native Euge
nean, diabetic, cancer survivor, di
vorced, over 50, heterosexual male
and frankly, O’Brien, I get a little irri
tated at the logo of a guy in a quilt
playing a bagpipe.
I get irritated when television or
real movies have to have a recover
ing alcoholic character as a “regular
guy” and exploit the 12-step pro
grams. We are not “regular guys.” I
really get irritated at exploited to
kenism. Every cancer patient, por
trayed in a movie has to wear a puffy
hat — more ignorant portrayals.
Should we change the names of
some dog breeds? Like blue heeler?
That insults physicians of color. As
does black Lab insult our friends to
the northeast and African Americans?
And those male bastards at Sears —
they should change the name on their
signature tools to “Craftsperson.”
As for mascot name-changing, go
Ducks! Kick the crap out of those
Fighting Irish — with a bagpipe or
something.
Colin Campbell
Eugene
Retail employees
deserve more
It could be a long, hot summer if
the major Lane County retail grocers
(Albertson’s, Fred Meyer and Safe
way) continue down the path of their
current demands.
They talk about the need of finan
cial relief in the form of two-tier em
ployment benefits and work condi
tions. They need to realize that the
reality is they are already enjoying
an unfair two-tier system.
The retail employees of Lane
County are hard working, dedicated
employees, providing superior cus
tomer service to the citizens of this
community. The companies are ex
tremely profitable. They owe their
employees more than what they
are demanding.
They currently compensate their
Lane County employees less than
Portland, Vancouver, Longview and
other major metropolitan areas. The
health insurance is a lesser plan. But,
the cost of living is higher in Lane
County. So why?
No reason they can offer is credible.
If so, then their management staff
would also be on a lower tier.
Next time you shop at your union
Lane County grocer, tell the staff that
assists you that you do care and you’ll
be there for them.
Gene Pronovost
UFCW Local 555 president
Mascot issue appeals
to crybabies
This is a response to the sensitive,
non-violent, non-alcoholic, Irish guy
who wrote, “Many mascots are de
meaning” (ODE, 04/17).
In John Muir O’Brien’s letter, he
states he has to “put up with the
Notre Dame’s culturally insensitive
‘Fighting Irish’” and that he wants
“the Athletic Department to take a
stance for our Irish students by not
playing Notre Dame.”
A mascot is a representation of a
team. It doesn’t represent any other
group of people and definitely not
you as an individual. I would as
sume a logically thinking human be
ing knows that a mascot does not
represent an entire group of individ
uals.
You could say it is not the Irish
people that are being represented,
just the violent drunk Irish people.
This technically could be considered
the lower class, and how dare you be
so insensitive to the underprivi
leged? They need representation and
heroes, too.
O’Brien even wants the Duck mas
cot to be taken away because land
developers and hunters systemati
cally destroyed wetlands and duck
populations. Does that have any
thing to do with us being Ducks?
Maybe if we were the University
Land Developers, I could sort of see
his point.
This whole culturally sensitive
issue has been blown out of pro
portion by a few supposedly sensi
tive people who in no way repre
sent the entire population’s
opinion. Thank God (or should I
say ‘a higher power,’ just to be po
litically correct) only the strong
survive, because these sensitive
people make America sound like a
nation of crybabies.
Kristina Crandell
sophomore
accounting
Utters to the Editor
and Guest Commentaries policy
Letters to tie editor and guest commentaries are encouraged, letters are limited to 25Q
words and guest commentaries to 550 words. Please include contact information. The
Emerald reserves the rightto edit for space, grammar and style.
BLOOD
— the gift you should
keep on giving
A mere six months ago, it seemed that giving
blood was the thing to do. In immediate
response to the events of Sept. 11, the
numbers of blood donations skyrocketed. In Sep
tember, lines to give blood often lasted more than
three hours. The interest and impact was enor
mous and crucially important in a time of uncer
tainty and concern.
I specifically remember a conversation I had
with an employee of the American Red Cross
Donor Services department in early October.
She informed me that the way in which this
country donates blood was going to be perma
nently changed by the events of Sept. 11 and the
heightened awareness of the need of constant
blood donations.
Sadly, this has not been the case. As early as
Christmas, the Red Cross had reached critical
levels in the demand for blood. The demand has
not ceased since. Needs are at a similar level as
they were at this time a year ago. And as colleges
and universities (considerable supporters of the
blood donation program) near summer break, the
Red Cross is scrambling to meet spring levels be
fore the tough summer season arrives. Why is it
that the act of giving blood, which was so promi
nent and crucial in the fall, has reached such
low levels of participation?
While there is not a simple answer to this
question, there are several relative facts. Primari
ly, the public is not aware of the continuous
need for blood. While the Red Cross is a highly
visible organization and community, campus
and corporate blood drives are quite frequent,
people are not aware of how often blood dona
tions can occur and how frequent the need is.
People can donate every 56 days (approxi
mately two months) and are encouraged to do so.
Blood has a short shelf life, and the resources of
the Red Cross need to be constantly replenished.
Furthermore, it is important that blood donations
Guest Commentary
Matthew
Alford
be staggered. This allows for a consistent flow of
the resource to hospitals and people in need.
Second, there is a misconception that blood
drives only occur after something happens. This
was visible in the blood drives on and after Sept.
11. The blood that was collected on these days
had to be tested, screened and packaged proper
ly before it could be delivered. The blood that
was of immediate assistance in the recovery ef
forts of Sept. 11 was most probably not collected
in these drives, but rather was donated before
Sept. 11.
I agree that giving blood is a highly commend
able way of serving one's duty to community.
Also, I understand the patriotic and symbolic
significance that now comes along with the
process. However, the meaning behind the sym
bol has been lost.
For example, in a recent conversation with the
Red Cross, I learned that blood drives for the
one-year anniversary of Sept. 11 have been
booked for several months now. At the same
time, there is still a struggle and push to sched
ule more blood drives and increase blood dona
tion during the months prior to Sept. 11. This
indicates that blood drives have become a com
memoration, not a consistent action for support
of the blood program’s everyday demands.
Individuals need to realize that the need per
sists and the best way to help is to be a consis
tent and continual donor.
Matthew Alford is a columnist for Tufts Daily (Tufts U.),
courtesy of U-WIRE.
Star Tribune U-WIRE